Now that Gold Derby and Vulture have both written pieces about this possibly being the whitest Oscars ever it’s time to look back once again on last year’s missed opportunities because those opportunities do come around. You know what happens to them? They are shitcanned by bloggers and critics, then roundly dismissed by industry voters. Just look at what happened last year with two American (and African-American) film directors – Lee Daniels and Ryan Coogler. Despite a hard push by the Weinstein Co, despite continual hammering by Yours, Truly, among others – pundits, critics, bloggers and industry voters turned their noses up at these two offerings, both depicting vital and important stories of African American communities. Like Max Von Sydow says in Hanna and Her Sisters people should not be asking how could this happen – they should be asking why it doesn’t happen more often.
Not even a screenplay nomination for Ryan Coogler last year. Coogler was honored at the Cannes film festival and Fruitvale Station was named by AFI as one of the year’s top ten. Boston Film Critics Online (which is barely a critics group) honored Fruitvale as one of their top ten. The pic got a lot of “best first film” and “best breakthrough director” but that was pretty much it. It never went on to Oscar glory and was, in fact, completely shut out of all of the guild awards.
The Butler got not a single Oscar nomination and not a single major award from critics. It was shunned completely, even its brilliant star Forest Whitaker, even David Oyelowo in a fantastic supporting turn. Great acting across the board but what. Insert the sound a helium balloon makes when you slowly deflate it. It just wasn’t good enough for the awards community.
When Ava DuVernay won Best Director for Middle of Nowhere at Sundance her film received no love from the industry or the critics. She won alongside Ben Zeitlin who was ushered in on a great stallion as the next big thing. Good for him. He deserved it but come on, really?
This same story is told year after year with black filmmakers, women filmmakers, and other minorities trying to break through. They step up to the plate, they strike out. Oh, their movies are good enough, the critics will tell you. They don’t have enough popular stars to get in.
Here’s what I see. There is one guild voting body that actually is diverse, that puts its money where its mouth is and that’s the Screen Actors Guild, which awarded both Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer their top acting awards while also awarding The Help best ensemble. Last year, the Butler made a showing ONLY AT SAG. The rest of the guilds and the Academy (and the bloggers and critics?)
Let’s just say what no one wants to admit because they’d much rather blame the artists who don’t earn their high praise – the critics and the industry prefer stories about white men. With the exception of Gravity last year, that’s pretty what gets served up across the board, what is accepted and revered.
So you’ll have to forgive me my outrage this year when a couple of bones were thrown last year at 12 Years a Slave amid much advocacy and hard pushing. This is status quo, my friends, for the time being, until there are more diverse voices covering film and voting on these awards, is here to stay, despite the token films that pop up here or there in the awards race deemed “good enough.”
This year, there are two films by African American directors heading into the race. The brilliant Ava DuVernay’s Selma and Chris Rock’s Top Five. I think I know how this is going to turn out, not that I or anyone should let that stop them from having a dream today.
But perhaps those complaining about it being a white Oscars would do well to help remind critics and industry voters how very rare a year like last year was and how shameful indeed that those who came knocking were turned away. And mediocre works were let in the door. The front door. No one should be the least bit surprised by how this year is shaking out so far. More films like The Butler, Fruitvale Station and 12 Years a Slave succeed in the awards race (one did, two didn’t) the easier it is to get projects with black filmmakers funded and made. That is the best the Oscar race has to offer to the world anymore – it can help launch careers, open doors and present opportunities. Now that two films were cut you’re going to have pundits quietly closing those doors with the old refrains “is it an Oscar movie” “With The Academy go for it”? We know the answers to those questions are going to be no, not unless the films were also produced by Brad Pitt.
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The only way to stop David O. Russell is to pull the funding for his film on the last day of principal photography.
I used to feel bad for him for that. Now I just feel bad it doesn’t happen more often.
“I would have nominated AMERICAN HUSTLE because it’s the best ensemble acting we’ve probably ever seen.”
Jennifer Lawrence being miscast as the long suffering wife is just the beginning of why this statement is outlandish. I really like her and find her charming but I think David O Russell cast her in roles meant for more seasoned and mature actresses. Oh how I wish Marisa Tomei had played these roles. Plus 12 Years A Slave had a far better acting ensemble than American Hustle.
I’m glad Hustle was well recognized by the Academy voters despite no wins.
But it was rather a big surprise Coen brothers’ film Inside Llewyn Davis got snubbed and failed to land on the BP noms list — and for some reason, when thinking about that, The Blind Side often came up on my mind so that I’d start feeling a bit annoyed by the fact that Davis didn’t make it but they let The Blind Side in.
Big DUH to the Oscars despite that it seems the Academy’s collective taste and mine — I know it won’t sit well around here on AD; so there’s no blowing one’s own horn here — are not too much apart.
A truly fascinating read this – the article and the comments. A lot of what I would like to have said, having sat in front of this page for some time now {accumulatively}, have already been said in this way or that. Also, I am not really prepared to be insulted and belittled by someone I have admirably followed for many, many years, for having a strong difference of opinion to them. So I will sit this one out.
I think when we discuss crappy BP nominees somehow finding their way into the race we kind of have to acknowledge anything from the 2010 awards with an asterisk. When The Academy first changed back to the 10 nominee thing I think we forget that a wildly unprecedented and unique thing happened where films that in any other year would have surely missed out slipped in. The Blind Side, District 9 and A Serious Man (not all entirely crappy) would never, ever make it into the field in any other year, regardless of their competition. Because it was the first year, the voting system was untested, new patterns hadn’t yet formed and voters saw an endless amount of opportunity to vote for whatever they wanted, based on whatever they wanted. In the years since then, I think the BP has become a place for the 9 or 10 most nominated films to appear–excluding films that The Academy will just never acknowledge or even consider as BP nominees (Harry Potter, Transformers, Skyfall) or ones that just weren’t loved enough and/or missed out on big nominations (this is how films like Beasts and ToL slip in). Tinker Tailor Solider Spy and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are anomalies that still don’t make sense as having been left out (even though I liked neither).
Anyway, my point is like, um, can we just never speak of The Blind Side again? The best thing to ever happen is Sandra Bullock insinuating at TIFF 2013 that she shouldn’t have won for it.
I must say, I’m completely cool with viewing DOR as an evil entity that must be destroyed by means beyond the norm.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d wonder if Weinstein doesn’t sometimes buy movies with the express intention of burying them — so that way they won’t stand a chance against his actual pet favorites. He did that with The Road, he did that with A Single Man. He did it with Snowpiercer this year.”
I really loathe Weinstein sometimes. I’m sure I’ll rank a few of the BP nominees below Snowpiercer (my #4, currently). That movie was awesome.
NOOOOO I love THE FIGHTER. And AMERICAN HUSTLE. Both deserved everything they got, goddamnit. In fact, I thought THE FIGHTER was better than THE SOCIAL NETWORK, THE KING’S SPEECH, & BLACK SWAN (though a touch beneath ANOTHER YEAR & maybe SHUTTER ISLAND). Russell is the Hal Ashby of the 21st Century.
*ducks*
I dont think The Blind Side was even the main reason why they ended the clear top 10. For me, the fact that the mystery surrounding Oscars nominations day in 2011 was which would grab the last spot, Winters Bone or The Town… Basically no other standed a chance (I am a fan of both of this films but it’s a real problem when this is the only thing being discussed about the lineup), really did upset the Academy… And although the top 10 actually made two huge blockbusters nominees (Toy Story 3 and Inception), ratings were low that year. For me, the reason was the show was really poor but… It looks like the top 10 had its critics after those low ratings.
I personally would easily accept A Blind Side sort of thing nominated every once in a while if this was a “sacrifice” to make room for films like District 9, Up, Toy Story 3 and Winters Bone nominated, which I doubt would have happened under the new system. Or to films like The Master or The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, that would have been also. I would make the old top 10 back. It brings more diversity.
“But I’ll have to add that 2010 also had 10 nominees, no more, no less. Two-year experiment.”
no problem. the theory is flexible.
2010, upon learning that The Fighter somehow received enough votes to be nominated for BP, the Board of Governors calls an emergency meeting.
Van Helsing: O. Russell grows stronger with each passing day. He must be stopped.
Carl: yes, M’Lord. You’ll be needing silver bullets then.
Van Helsing: Hmm…
Carl: Rings of garlic… holy water… silver stake… crucifix… ?
Van Helsing: First we shall endeavor to tighten the voting rules.
Carl: I– I– I fear we may be too late.
Van Helsing [ominously]: God help us.
The problem isn’t with the awards groups so much as with the whole industry itself, including the auteurs and great actors we lionize here. Arguing about The Butler misses the point. We had some good movies with racial themes last year, but minority actors should be routinely included in awards quality projects without regard to racial themes. Why not a south asian James Bond? Or a black Amy in Gone Girl?
Ryan – hystericalarious. But I’ll have to add that 2010 also had 10 nominees, no more, no less. Two-year experiment. For the record.
Still, that conversation could have happened…
“The Blind Side was lucky to come out in 2009. That was a weird year… lots of flops.”
JP, I’ve always felt 2009 was a lucky year for The Blind Side for another reason. I have a theory about that, a theory that I’ve never articulated. I’ll try to keep it brief which won’t be hard since it’s a flimsy theory.
2009 was the last year the Academy stipulated that there would be 10 BP nominees; no more, no less.
Consider these hypothetical results for the nominations ballot:
BALLOTS – MOVIE
725 – THE HURT LOCKER
705 – AVATAR
700 – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
650 – UP IN THE AIR
640 – UP
577 – PRECIOUS
510 – A SERIOUS MAN
475 – AN EDUCATION
375 – DISTRICT 9
110 – THE BLIND SIDE
105 – THE WHITE RIBBON
100 – JULIE & JULIA
100 – A PROPHET
95 – INViCTUS
85 – WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
75 – A SINGLE MAN
65 – (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
55 – IN THE LOOP
45 – NINE
____
~6000
the slope of the vote tallies gradually drops off… then it gets steeper… but after the 9th nominee, the slope of the tally drops right off the cliff. Sinks to only 110 ballots.
oh shit. The accountants at PricewaterhouseCoopers gulp and do a recount. But there’s no denying the numbers: Apparently there are 110 Academy members who thought The Blind Side was the best movie of 2009.
Therefore, by the ballot rules in place that year, they had no choice but to include The Blide Side as the 10th nominee, even though it got less than 1/3 of the votes of the 9th-place nominee.
So they break the news to the Board of Governors, who are mortified. (Everyone is mortified except for Ed Asner, because he voted for The Blind Side).
The Board of Governors asks the accountants if there is any way to prevent such an embarrassment from happening again.
And the accountants say:
“Well, sure. We can set up a new rule, a rule that says a movie has to get the support of at least 5% of the Academy before it can join the ranks of Best Picture nominees.”
The Board of Governors says:
“well, Goddammit!! Why didn’t we establish that rule in the first place?! Now that asshole Ryan Adams will probably do a breakdown of what happened and reveal just how ridiculous this system really is. He will be able to show everyone how 109 grandmas and Ed Asner can like a movie — and that’s all it takes to get a BP nomination! FOCK!!”
===
And that, boys and girls, is my theory of how The Blind Side got a BP nomination and forever ended the short-lived experiment of having 10 BP nominees, no matter how few people actually voted for the 10th nominee.
Thanks, Ryan. I appreciate your response greatly 🙂
And no, I did not see it as yelling at me, at all. In fact, youre absolutely right about Fruitvale being successful with respect to its budget. And yes, it did better than Beasts, heck, even The Hurt Locker. I guess I meant (and didnt express correctly, really) that sometimes specific films (like a Fruitvale) need a bigger boost than what it got. Needed more.
And speaking of that, you’re dead on. Weinstein could have absolutely spent some more $$ on its campaign or paid for more theaters or re-released it or something if he was serious about it. But he seemed to be too wrapped up in The Butler and August: Osage County. I enjoyed both of those latter films, but Fruitvale was arguably better (my own opinion notwithstanding).
Thanks again for reading my ridiculously long post 🙂
The one thing I can say about it is that it’s probably my favorite Russell film since Flirting with Disaster. Not saying it’s what people expect it to be but for me personally it fell that way. Also, the plot is dense and complex — not something easily digested in one sitting. You know those pesky Oscar voters — they like things neat and tidy. On the other hand, the performances are slam dunks across the board. Actors love actors so I would be willing to bet that they would revel in this.
http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2013/11/first-look-at-american-hustle-2/
wait wait wait wait wait…i specifically remember you saying, sasha, that American Hustle was DOR’s best movie since Flirting with Disaster. But now you said it’s a ‘terrible film’. like…huh? please explain. so if AH is a terrible film, then you hated all his others movies too? Huh. Had no idea.
The Blind Side was a terrible film but got a lot of coverage on this site because a woman-led film grossed so much money. A woman-led film won best actress and was nominated for best picture. But I feel like, depending on the day of the week, opinions change like skittles for the sake of making a topic look more shocking than it is. Woman-led or not, Blind Side deserved none of that love (in my opinion which I do not state as fact).
“In my opinion, The Butler didn’t get any nominations because it was an average movie at best.
And the reason The Blind Side got a Best Picture nomination? American Hustle? Terrible film, no matter what the critics say. Sorry but to be a groundbreaking film like that with that cast and not to get a single Oscar nomination? Um. Yeah.”
Sasha, I’m really a fan of yours and you I know really come with better analysis than that.
1. The Blind Side was lucky to come out in 2009. That was a weird year… lots of flops. I’ve never seen so many high-profiled contenders flop as in that year. One after the other. Invictus, Nine and The Lovely Bones….TBS did not deserve that nomination. I could think of a handful of films from that year that would be better nominees. The Messenger, Fantastic Mr. Fox… But it would not have been nominated in strong years like 2012 or 2013 plus… it was a clear top 10 in 2009… the rules are different today.
2. Rush also received 0 nominations last year. How many black professionals were there in that film? It got lots of tech noms that season, Daniel Bruhl got nominated for every main award. Could I say he missed because he was not american or british? No… I don’t think it was because of that. I’m not that simplistic in my analysis. He could have missed because of one thing that Mark Harris smartly pointed out in an article he wrote in the beginning of the year. Harris came out with a really interesting point that fewer films are receiving nominations in the main categories and, as far as I remember, his point was that Academy members were likely only watching the 10..12 films that are assumed the top contenders… and they are voting for the professionals involved in this film in all the top categories (and I would add… even in technical categories… we’ve seen either top 10/12 contenders and big blockbusters scoring noms there in the past 2 years… no place for Rush or The Butler… or Cloud Atlas). The only problem in his opinion is that he takes a conclusion too early. I think we have to wait and see how things work out in the next couple of years. In 2009 and 2011, lots of films received nominations in the top categories. In 2010, 2012 and 2013 very very few did. Neither The Butler nor Rush were top 10… 12 contenders last year. We have to wait and see if this is a new trend.
“There is one guild voting body that actually is diverse, that puts its money where its mouth is and that’s the Screen Actors Guild”
Really diverse. The place where Fernanda Montenegro, Emmanuelle Riva and Javier Bardem (for Before Night Falls and Biutiful) were all denied a nomination.
Wow, love the website, shocked that now 12YAS Oscar’s were thrown bones, rather than great wins that were advocated for… Yes, many mediocre (and bad ones) movies are nominated, but isn’t the question what movies are good enough to be nominated? Yes, American Hustle was awful and shouldn’t have been nominated. Neither was The Butler.
Ryan, I never considered it like that (Harvey MILKing (get it? ahhh I tried…) money until it wasn’t worth campaigning anymore. I loved Fruitvale, I loved Jordan and Spencer, I loved the quiet scene of the girl on daddy’s back.
Sasha, the way you defend The Butler is admirable but your attitude always reminds me of the poster in Lester Nygaard’s basement in the first episode of Fargo where the one fish was different from the others and it said “Wha if you’re right and everyone else is wrong?” There’s nothing wrong with that line of thinking sometimes but it seems to be all the time, especially with The Butler. A majority of the readers thought it was okay at best, my favorite scene came from the sit ins. Maybe the Academy’s taste in that instance mirrored your own faithful readers. When you wag your finger and go “The Academy is white old men…hate black films…white old men…The Butler was snubbed…white old men…(but12yearswon) BUT The Butler was snubbed…” and you make them seem out of style, so does that mean the majority of your readers are out of style as well? If they nominated The Butler and given it the top award would that be the Academy throwing it a bone? If a majority of film critics are white men and Fruitvale Station, The Butler, 12 Years a Slave, (I’ll go there) Jimi Hendrix: All Is By My Side, Get On Up, Middle Of Nowhere, Pariah, Night Catches Us, ect ect all got good/great/stellar reviews by the majority of film critics/bloggers, who you’ve said are white men, then I fail to see how they are not being braced by said critics.
EDIT: (and John, I’m not yelling at you for speculating that Fruitvale faltered because it didn’t make enough money. I know that you’re innocently offering the same general-consensus explanation that we assume is “common knowledge” — theories that always gets floated by people (not you) who should know better, and then become a “Fact” because everybody else in authority is saying the same thing.
But here’s the actual fact: If Beasts of the Southern Wild can secure a BP nomination after earning only $12 million then there’s no reason Fruitvale couldn’t have achieved the same on $16 million.
The reason is simpler and uglier: Fruitvale had completed its theatrical run in October. Harvey Couldn’t Milk It For Another Nickle. So he had no financial motivation to support it. Sometimes Weinstein buys movies the way Mitt Romney and Bain Capital buy companies: To harvest them. To squeeze out some profit on the cheap, and then discard the husk, with no consideration for the devotion of the creative people who built the thing and get left with nothing.)
Antoinette – You might consider Spielberg as someone who employs black actors, but the proof is in the material: his stories are very white. The Color Purple and Amistad are excellent (not to mention they were made a million years ago), and he is certainly more inclusive than his 1970’s contemporaries like Allen and Scorsese (very nearly all white, these two), but I find him lacking when it comes to diversity in his films. And outside of black actors, does he go for any other minorities? There was the Asian kid in Temple of Doom…
When it comes to his sci-fi, he could easily make a few of the main characters ethnic. Jurassic Park, AI, Minority Report, War of the Worlds each have more than enough room. He did put that girl in The Lost World, I suppose.
One of my favorite movies is Raiders of the Lost Ark and I look forward to whatever Spielberg does, but he isn’t above reproach. He produces a lot as well and could make room in many of his films. Moreover, he could exert pressure on so many of his colleagues to be more inclusive as well.
The Academy should start experimenting some…
A good 20% of the Academy are flummoxed trying to open the plastic wrap on their soup crackers. I’m guessing many of the Academy members with the most seniority are the loudest cranks who throw conniption fits about changes in valet parking stamps, and much worse fits about structural changes to stale “Academy tradition.”
That’s how this once-great experiment to expand Best Picture to embrace fresher titles has now been neutered 5 different ways to homogenize the selection process all over again.
Well, Jessica Chastain is 1/4 Spanish also, but since it’s directly from Spain, I’m sure it counts as white.
Right now, the only non-white possible acting nominees listed on awards daily (middle right of the page) are Viola Davis and Hilary Swank (if we include her). That will likely change with Selma, but yes, it’s definitely under Ryan’s census numbers.
Natasha, Thanks! Fixed!
Nice comment, John. Lots to ponder. I need to go back and read it again a couple more times but I agree with much of what you say.
Just one thing though…
Fruitvale Station also didn’t have the best distribution ..
Sad commentary on the state of Hollywood when a movie distributed by the Weinstein Co can be said to have “not the best distribution.” Or, to be more specific, it’s a sad commentary on the state of the Weinstein Co, Harvey’s priorities, or weird lack thereof.
Fruitvale Station was made for the kind of budget that people like Harvey could finance entirely with a swipe of his Platinum card. It cost $900,000 and earned back 18x what it cost.
Fruitvale Station earned $16 million which is $4 million more than Beasts of the Southern Wild earned.
So no. NO. I’m not buying into this bullshit that Fruitvale didn’t earn enough money to get noticed. It didn’t get noticed because Harvey Weinstein bought the distrib rights and then immediately gave up on it.
If I didn’t know better, I’d wonder if Weinstein doesn’t sometimes buy movies with the express intention of burying them — so that way they won’t stand a chance against his actual pet favorites. He did that with The Road, he did that with A Single Man. He did it with Snowpiercer this year.
Harvey has done a lot of good over the years. He’s done a lot of shitty things too. The way he carelessly mishandled Fruitvale Station is one of his shittier episodes of distributor malpractice.
Or is it TOP FIVE?
I’ll just stand here briefly on a soapbox and reveal myself as someone who had no idea about “Chris Rock’s BIG FIVE”……*goes to do research*
Ki:
The point that I was making, without trying to say it in a controversial way, is that Nyong’o was a black woman who won. Whatever her nationality is, she is a black woman who took home a deserved win. I do my best not to use the word “black” as much as I possibly can because I know it can be offensive to some people and I am used to just saying African American at this point.
@MAC I don’t know man. I’ve always kinda considered Steven Spielberg one of the blackest directors out there. I mean only Quentin maybe is a bigger black director who’s actually a white guy. And if it wasn’t for those two, Spike Lee would have been the only person making big movies about black people in the last couple decades. The guy who made the help is getting there. He’s white right? If I’m forgetting someone, remind me.
I apologize for “token”, but IF Get on Up is the ONLY black-themed movie nom’d, you know the whispers will start. The Butler was a good movie, not sure it should have been nom’d, but the acting was great, esp. Forrest Whittaker. Someone on another board mentioned that maybe the Academy should consider nom’ing more than just FIVE actors.
I think the Academy should follow the Golden Globes and have a category for best comedy/music movie, because there are some comedians who do doggone good work on screen, but because they are “comedians” they’re not considered on the same level as “drama” actors.
The GGs also have more than FIVE actors nom’d. The Academy should start experimenting some.
# PATRICK
“To top it off, it was an African American woman who won Best Supporting Actress for that same movie.”
Sorry for nitpicking but I don’t think Lupita N’yongo is African-American, she is African (from Kenya) for sure and has a Mexican citizenship but I don’t think that makes her African American (unless black people from Mexico fall under that descriptionin in which case i stand corrected).
Hmmm… Maybe it’s because all the white guys think a Latino will not know anyone they know/work with… you and you’re silly anecdotes.
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Loving the thread.
Anecdotally, I get about 5x more offers of money when I switch my Grindr profile from “white” to “latino”, so it’s probably not a lack-of-opportunities thing
I see that there are a lot of people who wish to compare The Butler with American Hustle and Blind Side which really doesn’t make that much sense to me. I may be a little bias here for the mere fact that when The Blind Side came out, the main character, Michael Oher, was just drafted by my home town Baltimore Ravens and as a former season ticket holder I very much enjoyed the movie. The theaters between Baltimore and Annapolis (which is about 30-40 miles away) were sold out for well over a month and was very well respected in the area. For me, I wasn’t the least bit upset to see that it was nominated for Best Picture when it came out because it had just expanded to 10 films at that time. Had we been sitting on 5 like the years prior then I would agree that it shouldn’t have been in that category. I also felt that Bullock was much better in that film then last years Gravity. Other than on this site, I have not had many people that I know that said they absolutely loved that film (myself being one of them). So for me, I thought it was a MUCH better overall film than the Butler. There was nothing about the Butler that stood out for me as one of the best films of the year. The only thing that I found memorable was it’s closing line. The overall acting was lackluster at best and I honestly didn’t like the story. As for American Hustle, I will admit that I didn’t see the love it got, especially with 4 nominations in the acting categories. But if we wish to compare Hustle with Butler, it was a more intriguing film that had some nice twists in the plot and was a much better acted film. Some of the people who have written on this particular issue has made god points as to whom would we have rather seen nominated in the major categories in 2013. My 2 major snubs from last year was Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips and Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks. I felt like both carried their films and was some of the best acting we had seen in the last 5-10 years. But for everyone who wishes to say I don’t think ____________ should have been nominated, who would you have replaced them with?
Here’s my 2 cents, for what it’s worth (sorry so long! :-/):
-OF COURSE Whites are overrepresented. Of course Blacks/Latinos/Asians/Women are underrepresented. That’s Hollywood. That’s the Oscars. Changes need to be made and are being made ever so slowly.
-I really admire the passion that Sasha puts into all of her articles. I think it’s great.
-That said, the particular argument of the likes of The Butler or Fruitvale Station or Middle of Nowhere not getting Academy traction exclusively because they are “non-White” movies isn’t a 100% cut and dry thing.
-My reasoning is that:
1) Middle of Nowhere simply didn’t have the necessary distribution or box office to make an impression; it had the critics (white, black, women, etc). It also had filmmakers/actors who no one really knew/knows yet. That’s a big deal.
2) Fruitvale Station also didn’t have the best distribution or box office; it had the critics (white, black, women, etc). For me, I wasn’t bowled over by it. But it was definitely better-than-good.
3) The Butler had great box office and decent reviews (if you really look); not amazing, not awful. Decent.
-But as for The Butler specifically, last year, there were SO many great films from all walks of life and, I think The Butler got a bit lost in the shuffle. Didn’t it come out in August, too? (early).
-It could have made BP, but didn’t (many greater and/or great films were left off the BP line-up). I don’t think Lee Daniels was particularly close, either (so many amazing directors didn’t make the cut). Forrest Whitaker was great and would have made the line-up in a weaker year, but alas, the line-ups for Best Actor lately have been CRAZY and he must have been somewhere in the unfortunate 6-10 slots. Oprah … I honestly thought she’d be nommed. I’m gald for who WAS nommed. But I thought she’d be nommed. I also thought The Butler could have gotten in for Make-Up. That surprised me.
-But really, I don’t think The Butler’s omissions were catastrophic. You could see HOW they’d miss.
-As mentioned, audiences went for The Butler (though, I wonder how many went JUST to see the heavily-publicized Oprah in action), some critics went for it, SAG went for it bigtime. P.S. I love that SAG went for The Help, as well. Back to The Butler, I just don’t think it was quite good ENOUGH. I don’t think it had a lot to do with a Black/White issue. But that’s just me.
-I actually think that Hollywood/AMPAS are doing better, “getting there”. Change is slow. But there is always change. I see more Latinos in Hollywood. I see more women directors/writers/editors/craftspeople getting chances and/or accolades.
-Every year when they show us the list of new members of AMPAS, and each year, I see more & more Women, people of Mixed Race/Blacks/Asians, and also importantly … Younger members. I like what I’m seeing!
-Kerry Washington, Viola Davis … headlining good TV shows with great ratings. Taraji P. Henson was so great on Person of Interest, another hit. Speaking of her … she was just in the #1 movie at the box office last weekend, No Good Deed (with Idris Elba). And look at this week’s #1 … The Equalizer (starring Denzel). Have two different movies starring Black actors ever landed at #1 at the box office for 2 weeks in a row??? I think that’s fantastic.
-Looking at this year at the movies, we saw Chadwick Boseman nailing it in Get on Up (making a respectable $30 million). He will likely get a Golden Globe nom, possible win.
-We had Belle, a wonderful little arthouse movie directed by a Black woman and starring a Black woman and it made a more-than-decent $10 million at the domestic box office.
-We have Selma to come (SO excited), and that film could really shake things up. I look forward to seeing is David Oyelowo or Carmen Ejogo can make waves in the acting categories. Time will tell.
-Just last year, 12 Years a Slave won Best Picture (deserved award for Steve McQueen), Ejiofor was nommed, Lupita won, and John Ridley won for writing.
-In 2009, a Black writer won for Precious, a Black film that AMPAS ate up, bigtime.
-In 2008, AMPAS went for Kathryn Bigelow … SO cool.
-In 2006, Crash won (I know opinions on the film varies), but it was a film that included many Black/Latino/Asian characters in it. AMPAS sure wasn’t scared to reward that movie.
-I love the recent Oscar wins for Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forrest Whitaker, Octavia Spencer, etc..
-This year, 2014, we also have the prospect of a woman being nominated again for Best Director in Angelina Jolie (hopefully the film is as great as it could be on paper).
-My thoughts are becoming very scattered, too long, and a little crazy, now, haha. I shall stop. But I could definitely keep going with other examples. My point of all of this is that I am hopeful for the future. Hollywood and AMPAS should and eventually WILL do better and better at rewarding women, Blacks, and other genders/ethnicities for their exceptional work. Hollywood should and will do better at making more films for the other genders & ethnicities. Though this year does look pretty “White”, and while I may be naive, and while I may be too optimistic here … I’m actively choosing to be optimistic. Sasha, I LOVE how passionate you are about this. And I can only imagine what 16 years of doing this/being disappointed means to you. I can’t imagine. You are amazing at what you do. Love your site, love your articles. I just hope that you can see the baby steps, as well. 🙂
I think it’s a success when other bloggers talk about white Oscars, too. At least the discussion is going on, more people admit that race and gender do matter when it comes to power and representation. AD clearly helped to put that topic on the agenda. Change happens slowly, that sometimes makes it frustrating.
Thank you Sasha. Thank you, Thank you.
Time to ask, if Linklater, or Fincher, or whoever are such good guys, why do they continue casting, and hiring white people for everything except occasional token?. Why would Clooney continue to work in all-white films?
has anyone actually done the math? Are blacks underrepresented?
I recoil at thinking we need to have a mathematical match between official Census numbers and the Oscar bubble, but yes it’s pretty easy to do the math at a glance without even doing much math.
Naturally, as would be expected, historically over the past 85 years, the disparity between the Census Number and the Oscar Bubble shows that non-white nominees are embarrassingly underrepresented.
Rounding off sloppily: 7 out of 10 Americans are white, a slightly more than 1 out of 10 Americans are black, slightly fewer than than 2 Americans out of ten are Hispanic or Latino. (The ratio of Latino:Black is quickly approaching 2:1. but at the moment it’s more like 17% Latino, 12% Black). 1 out of every 20 Americans is Asian.
So, for the purpose of simplicity are we talking about just actors? Out of 20 acting slots, to match up with nationwide demographics, we should expect to see:
14 white nominees,
2.5 black nominees,
3 Latino nominees,
and 1 Asian nominee.
Last year, what we got instead was this:
17 white nominees
3 Black nominees
So in fact, the proportion of Black nominees in the acting categories does reflect nationwide racial distribution, and that happy balance happens every time there are 2 or 3 Black actors among the 20 nominees.
(but the reason why I recoil from regarding the talent pool this way is because I think it’s perfectly reasonable to make an effort to right the slights of the past by weighing more actors of color into the mix than a simple Census balance would require).
The groups that are chronically under-represented at the Oscars are Latino and Asian actors. That’s why I thought I could get away with being a dick by bringing up the milestone victories for Alfonso Cuarón and Ang Lee.
Not only do Hispanic/Latin America and Asian Americans get left out of the argument as if equality for them is less important, less urgent, there was no outcry at all whenever it was suggested that a white or black director should win instead of them.
And yes, it was suggested, over and over and over, that a White director should win instead of Ang Lee and a Black director should win instead of Cuarón. I don’t feel bad about pointing that out and expressing my own feeling that the disconnect is somewhat messed up.
Whitest Oscars for sure! Selma is a long shot and people of color will be in short supply. Miyavi could make an appearance. Someone from Selma, maybe. I expect Academy members to barely recognize DuVernay’s Selma unless she hits it out of the park. I am also not a big believer in Jolie at this point – Blood and Honey was tedious. All in all, things aren’t looking good for non-white participants.
Big time directors also have little to do with people of color. When was the last sizeable role for a non-white actor in a Scorsese movie? How about David O. Russell or Spielberg? Even Fincher only uses them sparingly. Your name has to be Morgan Freeman to find your way into these mens’ films and even then, it’s no guarantee.
Why not take these guys to task? They can cast whomever they want and it’s pretty clear they don’t care too much for minorities in their sandbox.
“When The Academy nominates The Blind Side for Best Picture they automatically lose every argument about quality.”
Just because the Academy has made some questionable decisions in the past does not mean that they should be encouraged to make more in the future, even if the film is by/about minorities. And though I know you disagree, Sasha, a majority of us in this thread seem to be saying that The Butler, from a quality standpoint, would have been a questionable addition to the nominations. And if that’s the consensus in this thread, full of people who by and large agree with your point of view that the Oscars underrepresent minorities, what does that say?
Outside of a really effective scene involving the sit-in’s and one or two others, Lee Daniels’ The Butler was high camp. The movie was terribly edited and the script was embarrassingly bad at times. It had a 66% MC rating. 72% (6.6) on RT. Gravity, 12 Years, and Hustle had both extreme critical and commercial support. And for a movie about an old guy who pursues cashing in a fake sweepstakes ticket in middle America, Nebraska did well with both critics and audiences. Wolf was one of Scorsese’s best films in years. Spike Jonze and Paul Greengrass received high marks as well. How anyone would argue that Lee Daniels was left out of the equation last year is beyond me. The best (and really only) thing about Butler quality-wise was Forrest Whitaker. He was great, but hardly one of the best performances of all-time, which would have demanded his inclusion. As it is, actors receive a boost from their film receiving overall Oscar heat, and all five Best Actor nominees had movies that landed in Oscar’s Top 6 that year (Gravity not having a male lead). Movies that make less than $300,000 like Middle of Nowhere generally don’t get noticed by the AMPAS. And, Fruitvale Station failed to expand beyond what TWC had hoped it would and abandoned it in favor of Philomena, which they would have an easier time getting multiple nominations for in arguably weaker categories that year (weaker than Actor, Original Screenplay, and Supporting Actress anyway, which is where Fruitvale needed to it).
Seems like this article was subconscious race-baiting/traffic grubbing. Why else complain when 12 Years a Slave won the most important Oscar last year? And, like previous users mentioned, what about the underrepresentation of other non-white groups?
SASHA wrote: “They won’t change until women, black filmmakers and others make movies WHITE FILM CRITICS like. Which usually means adhering to the gold standard which usually means: movies about white men.”
White critics “liked” MIDDLE OF NOWHERE & THE BUTLER quite a bit, the latter certainly more so than, say, J. EDGAR. They loved 12 YEARS A SLAVE & FRUITVALE STATION, with both receiving almost universally strong reviews. 12 YEARS made some coin, got a lot of attention in film sites an trades, certainly drove discussions among Academy members who saw it, & was thus rewarded. FRUITVALE STATION got ignored but then, so did LLEWYN DAVIS and KILLING THEM SOFTLY and KILLER JOE and THE DEEP BLUE SEA and any number of damn fine movies that laid an egg at the box office.
AUDIENCES, white and black, are the ones who ensured MIDDLE OF NOWHERE’s Academy shut out. It made a quarter of a million dollars, about what THE EQUALIZER is making every 20 minutes or something. It was a tiny movie with little advertising and a limited release and, like SHORT TERM 12, TAKE THIS WALTZ, SMASHED, LOCKE and dozens of other really good, recent indies, it was ignored outside Spirit land. White critics, as a collective, aren’t to blame. They gave a big tip of the cap to all the movies I just listed, a diverse bunch in terms of their cast and filmmakers.
Just to add a relatively race-neutral note but it’s worth considering the international make-up of the Academy and how the release platforms of films – especially smaller films – is a major factor here.
For example, we read every year of the influence of the British contingent within the Academy – so when you take into account the fact that Fruitvale Station was only finally released (in a very limited number of cinemas) during the summer of 2014 and the fact that Middle of Nowhere is yet to be released at all, it only makes the struggle harder for them to break through. But that is exactly the case for any other film of similar small scale (just over the last couple of years I can think of Martha Marcy May Marlene, Take Shelter, Margaret, Shame etc. that didn’t really get anywhere near Oscar recognition and you often had to really seek out screenings if you wanted to catch them – especially if you live outside of London – and those opportunities might only arrive after awards season and I’d argue most of those titles were actually bigger than Fruitvale or Middle of Nowhere to begin with.)
Screeners may be made available admittedly, but it’s not the same thing – and never will be – as a proper theatrical release that can generate conversation to compliment any planned campaign.
Not saying it’s right or wrong – but there are a number of mitigating factors why these two missed out on serious awards recognition. As for The Butler, arguing that there are other sub-standard best picture contenders is not enough of an argument for it being nominated.
Re. 2013, it was a far greater crime that the Coens and their wonderful Inside Llewyn Davis was entirely overlooked.
I totally forgot about GET ON UP and Chadwick Boseman. I assume it’s been eliminated. But I enjoyed it a great deal and his performance was worthy, imo. I guess the Jimi Hendrix movie fell away too. It didn’t play here.
This post gets ALL THE CLAPS, and that’s all I have to say.
I’m not sure I’m following the logic of “Sometimes bad movies get BP noms, so this bad movie should also get a BP nom.” American Hustle getting recognition does not mean that The Butler should also get recognition, it means that Oscar screws up – we already knew this. In a better world, American Hustle and The Butler would both get shut out of BP because neither one deserves to be there.
I would have nominated AMERICAN HUSTLE because it’s the best ensemble acting we’ve probably ever seen. Does the Academy have a Best Ensemble award? Nope. SAG does. And they use it as their Best Picture award. See the problem?
American Hustle is a trillion times better than The Butler. As were 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, Before Midnight, Her, Short Term 12, The Spectacular Now, Captain Phillips, Blue Is the Warmest Color, Fruitvale Station (I do agree this deserved a nomination), Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Past, Dallas Buyers Club, Mud, Rush, The Hunt, Enough Said, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Blue Jasmine, Frozen, The Wolf of Wall Street, Philomena, In a World, Frances Ha, The Great Beauty, The World’s End, The Place Beyond the Pines, Frances Ha, etc.
The Blind Side got in at least partly based on Bullock’s star power and the fact that it was a HUGE box office success. American Hustle got in because it was a critical favorite.
When compared to previous nominees such as The Reader, The Blind Side, and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, sure, The Butler is hardly worse than those. But compared to every Best Picture winner since Crash , The Butler looks downright flimsy.
Ok. But just this. Remember when BROKEBACK lost and we feared for the future and what it all meant? It changed the world anyway. Think where we’re at now compared to that day. I think as long as the movies are seen and the regular folks get around to them then that’s what makes all the difference. Of course being in the race is necessary for that but I don’t think it’s necessary that they win. I did think that last year if 12YAS didn’t win you would have been just as heartbroken as you were about THE SOCIAL NETWORK even if it wasn’t your favorite. Try not to get attached to the outcome. You’re doing your part, that’s all that matters.
I have a distinct feeling we will get a Paul Greengrass vibe out of this.
I disagree, Kane. Having seen MIDDLE OF NOWHERE and her style -among other things- is predicated on the mediums possibilities to explore the human face, rather European-60’s-like for lack for better term — viscerally lush if you will. Anyways I shouldn’t hijack this thread with this, but I guess where I’m coming from is that I’m relieved we’re seeing her take on MLK rather than Greengrass’.
Funny how last year you wrote that The Butler wasn’t good enough…that is, until it wasn’t nominated and then it was an issue of race. Maybe it just wasn’t good enough? Don’t make it an issue now
This is the last comment I’m going to respond to. You guys can come here and read my point of view or not. It makes no difference to me. But don’t tell me what to do. Don’t tell me what to think. Thanks. Have a great day.
*sigh* great, just great. now we’re calling these milestones “token films”
just great. good morning, everybody
And we wonder why it’s so hard to change things. They will never change. That was this post is about. They won’t change until women, black filmmakers and others make movies WHITE FILM CRITICS like. Which usually means adhering to the gold standard which usually means: movies about white men.
Sally, the messenger in question loved 12 Years a Slave and championed it for the win despite calling Wolf of Wall Street the best movie of the year. I wouldn’t say she needs to digest this movie again as I’m sure she’s seen it many times.
I’ve been writing about the Oscars for 16 years. I only championed films I thought were the best in the very early days. I do not fight for things I know I can’t win. I am tired of having to explain things to people but there was NO CHANCE IN HELL – read that again, write it down, memorize it, tattoo it to your forehead – NO CHANCE IN HELL Wolf of Wall Street was going to win Best Picture. NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. I learned my lesson with the Social Network. Sorry but you can only bring a horse to water. You can’t make them drink. 12 Years a Slave COULD win and did win. Bravo to them for that. Scorsese had already won bit with The Departed – they weren’t going to do it twice so soon unless it involved Nazis and took place during World War II and there was a mentally handicapped naked lady teaching soldiers how to fuck. Maybe that would have won him an Oscar twice. Steve McQueen had never won. No black director had ever won either Director or had their picture win Best Picture. That? That could win. Was it better than Gravity? YES. Was it better than any of the films that had a chance to win? Yes. I tend to put my chips around the hand I think I can play the best not necessarily what I personally think IS the best. That is a naive way to make yourself matter during the Oscar race. I have had my heart broken too many times to keep putting it out there — plus even though Wolf was MY favorite film of the year I actually think 12 years was more a deserving Best Picture winner. It deserves the award for all of the best reasons a film should win a gold statue. It represented something. It was important. It was making history. It was groundbreaking. If all I wanted to do was satisfy my own desires and pleasures I’d probably just shuck it all, move to Colorado and masturbate to porn all day. This job I do is not about satisfying MY peculiarities. I wish people could understand that. Maybe someday they will.
Just looking back over the past 10 years of acting nominees, based on population percentages:
Whites: Overrepresented.
Blacks: About Right.
Hispanics: Way Underrepresented. It also depends on whether or not you count Spanish actors in this category.
Asians: Underrepresented.
The thing about Jamie Foxx is he’s an extremely talented individual. You could say he proves that cream rises to the top, even if it’s chocolate cream. 🙂
Speaking of Mr. Foxx, what about ANNIE? I’m looking forward to that one. A musical with a cast that can act AND SING. Who’d a thunk it?
The movie wasn’t all that great
How many times do we have to go over this?
The Butler was awful, which was very much the consensus, black director or not, black actors or not
No, it wasn’t. It was not more awful than American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, The Blind Side, Crash. But p.s. I am not even talking about Best Picture. I didn’t expect that – although a SAG nomination and two SAG acting nominations besides more than qualifies it for an Academy Best Pic – the problem is that they can only pick five and last year was extremely competitive, especially for films starring white actors. But not a single other nomination? Not a lead actor nomination for Forest Whitaker, one of the best performances of the year? Not costumes, not score, not art direction? Nothing? Give me a break and please stop trying equate what the Academy chooses with quality.
What mediocre works were these? I thought all nine eventual Best Picture nominees this year were better than The Butler.
Not American Hustle. Sorry but it wasn’t better.
You can find crappy movies in the Best Picture race occasionally – though I didn’t think The Butler WAS crappy – it was just laughed off by the snooty elitists. It became a joke and Lee Daniels was a joke and that makes me sick to my stomach. When The Academy nominates The Blind Side for Best Picture they automatically lose every argument about quality.
phantom, we’d love it for you to write a profile piece focusing on Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Yes indeed. Great idea. Why not.
In my opinion, The Butler didn’t get any nominations because it was an average movie at best.
And the reason The Blind Side got a Best Picture nomination? American Hustle? Terrible film, no matter what the critics say. Sorry but to be a groundbreaking film like that with that cast and not to get a single Oscar nomination? Um. Yeah.
‘The Butler’ was a box-office hit, no doubt, but it just wasn’t critically admired or even truly loved by any of the precursors.
Three SAG nominations more than qualifies it. Don’t forget, The Blind Side got a Best Picture nomination. And believe me, I get the bigger picture. It seems to me that you do not. You’re seeing things from ground level, where most of the Oscar bloggers see things. They shrug and they say “well it wasn’t good enough” forgetting that terrible films do perfectly fine in the Oscar race. It’s hardly to do with quality. Hardly ever.
The other question is: has anyone actually done the math? Are blacks underrepresented? Or are blacks overrepresented among nominees and whites really the underrepresented ones? I have no idea
Eh, opening up Best Picture was supposed to help movies like TDK get a nomination. That was official motive. In reality, more blockbusters fail to secure a nom (think PGA nominee Skyfall) while the usual crop of what looks like Oscar player make the cut (infamous Extremly Loud and Incredibly Close,etc) .
So chances are that expanded field would nominate even more white actors and directors than before, considering that:
a) they have more opportunities to act in/direct movies that get awards attention.
b) biggest Oscar baits in acting are biopics and they are also mostly about famous white people
So I’d say expanded fields are cosmetic change that doesn’t solve the basic problem which is lack of opportunity due to nature of prestige movies (white guy biopics, adaptations of novels about white people) and preferential casting when it comes to color blind roles.
I have such mixed feelings about this.
I agree with the point the article’s making – the Oscars are VERY white, and even just getting your film out there to be considered by the Academy is significantly more difficult is your movie isn’t about – or at least by – white people. Middle of Nowhere is a great example – the film and DuVernay, along with leading lady Corinealdi, should have been in contention all season long. The only reason they weren’t is because no one could secure a good distribution deal for this little film, so the average Oscar voter probably never even heard of it. This is the main problem here – no one with the power to make it so has faith that Black films can succeed, critically or commercially.
That said, are we REALLY going to make The Butler, an overcooked mess of a film with a high-profile cast and a director with prior Oscar recognition (not to mention a white writer), the poster child for “neglected black filmmaking,” especially in the same year that 12 Years a Slave won the big prize? The Butler made $177 million, so it’s not like it was an abject failure – it just didn’t get a slice of that Oscar glory pie. And honestly, that’s okay. I hope no one thinks that not having Oscar noms makes your film inherently unimportant. There’s a better case to be made for Fruitvale Station, because at least that one had to fight for recognition, but at the same time, it was a small film and sometimes they don’t get in. Even super optimistic scenarios had it getting three nominations, tops, probably with no wins.
All that said, I’m really rooting for DuVernay and Selma this year. I think it’s just the wildcard this race needs.
So how many of the Gold Derby/Guru pundits are black? Just curious.
And of course Sasha won’t admit to her ridiculous attempts to stir the pot. You’re a gifted writer Ms. Stone, but when the dead horse you’re beating isn’t even a horse you have to know when to give it up
Hollywood likes to lecture the rest of America on racial issues, when in fact Hollywood is one of the least racially inclusive industries in the country. In recent years Hollywood likes to use Oscar Night to point to its diversity, when in reality on the other 363 days of the year it’s an industry where there hasn’t been a new black star minted for the mainstream audience since at least the emergence of Jamie Foxx. Best Supporting Actress has become the category for the Oscar Night concept of diversity, with a long string of black and Latina nominees in one-off performances whose Hollywood success evaporates quickly. (That’s not to say the performances themselves haven’t been deserving; generally they have been reasonable choices.) When added to the sudden media panic, it’s reasonable to expect a surge for Carmen Ejogo for Best Supporting Actress for Selma.
If I was in the black delegation I wouldn’t want Shailene Woodley.
I quite liked THE BUTLER last year and was surprised that it got goose-egged. FRUITVALE STATION was a better movie but then it’s ending was so abrupt, I felt like something was missing. So I’m not sure I would have nominated it if it were me. But then again I didn’t like most of last year’s movies.
Anyway, I think the real problem we have here is not enough room. Therefore I suggest opening up the categories. Every category can have up to 7 nominees if they get enough votes and the supporting actor categories can have 10. BP should have unlimited nominees with a minimum vote number. Meaning everyone nominates only 1 movie for Best Picture but the number of qualifying votes is much smaller. Like (# of voters)/20. So you could have 1 BP nominee or 20. 🙂 The more the merrier, I say.
If you had all those nominees and they still were all white, then we’d know for sure that they’re all a bunch of racists.
Sasha, your passion and awareness is admirable, but sometimes you’ve got to look at the bigger picture. ‘The Butler’ was a box-office hit, no doubt, but it just wasn’t critically admired or even truly loved by any of the precursors. Most of the awards-giving people didn’t think it was THAT good. Irrespective of what your opinion on the film is, do you really think voters should automatically vote for race-oriented films just because of their subject matter, even if they do not think it was one of the best of the year? Relevance of content doesn’t always mean artistic excellence.
Anyway, these are my 2 cents. I hope I didn’t sound confrontational.
Oh, God, is this shaping up to be another campaign for black rights movie just because it’s directed by a black director just like Oscars 2014? Seriously, people, nobody would give a shit about 12YS if exactly the same boring crap where nothing ever happened was directed by a while guy. I’m so happy that Cuaron (also non-white but not black) swept all Director awards without playing race/history card and left McQueen in the dust. Cuaron deserved all his wins 100 times over and McQueen didn’t and the fact that McQueen tried to play race card to win Director makes him even more pathetic and his loss even more cheer-worthy. Plus, at least Scorcese was also way better Director than McQueen so it isn’t like he was second in line either.
Yeah, it sucks that white actors, directors, etc get more opportunities but asking to nominate or award based on race rather than performance doesn’t make the wrong right. In other words, Interstellar is a masterpiece and there should be no BP/BD split where Nolan gets the shaft cause DuVernay wants to make history. I see where this is going but this time director that’s on the receiving end of “he’s white and his movie about climate change isn’t as important as MLK march” has HUGE fandom and we won’t let this politically correct shit stand in the way.
That said, Oyelowo is so winning. he’s hot, super talent, real charisma, he’s gonna nail MLK, just wait and see.
In my opinion, The Butler didn’t get any nominations because it was an average movie at best.
I’d say a majority of the biggest winners were non-white. Let us not forget Cuaron and Lubezski, Sorrentino and a nomination for Pharrell Williams. This may also be a “yeah duh” moment but Palestine and Cambodia had films in the foreign language category.
I’ve started writing a Gugu-piece a few months ago but now I have a reason to finish it. Thanks, Ryan !
Just to show a glimpse of “the chastainesque Gugu range”, here are the two trailers :
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtdk6owFj2o
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5-NsI8lZ5Lw
P.S. Not that I care for Rottentomatoes or early scores, but former ended over 80 and latter started at 100 (on Metacritic, Belle got a respectable green (64, no ‘red’ reviews), and the first three reviews for Beyond the lights range from 83 to 70).
phantom, we’d love it for you to write a profile piece focusing on Gugu Mbatha-Raw. I’ll cover the movie. Please do cover this astonishing actress for us.
Ryan, the reason I put “African American based” was because Brad Pitt was an Executive Producer on 12 Years.
I understand that, Patrick, and I was guessing that might be your reason. No big deal. I just wanted to make crystal clear:
the simple fact is that Brad Pitt wasn’t the only man to win an Oscar for producing 12 Years a Slave. Steve McQueen’s Oscar for producing 12 Years a Slave is exactly the same size and color as the one Brad got.
I looked it up. It wasn’t a bone. It was a real Oscar.
So: Three Black Filmmakers Won Three Top Oscars for 12 Years a Slave.
Steve McQueen, John Ridley, Lupita Nyong’o.
Ryan, great, thanks !
the first period piece in filmmaking history that is headlined (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), directed (Amma Asante) and written (Misan Sagay) by WOMEN of color and for some reason Awardsdaily not only didn’t celebrate their accomplishment, but pretty much ignored the film all together. Why ?
Sasha and I were already been discussing this oversight last night and I’m going to rectify it.
…yet there IS a well-received prestige film this year from a viable distributor (Fox Searchlight) that also delivered decent Box Office (10M+ in the US, not bad for a British period indie with no star power) and also happens to be probably the first period piece in filmmaking history that is headlined (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), directed (Amma Asante) and written (Misan Sagay) by WOMEN of color and for some reason Awardsdaily not only didn’t celebrate their accomplishment, but pretty much ignored the film all together. Why ?
P.S. This is a true breakthrough year for Gugu Mbatha-Raw who delivered ANOTHER well-received lead performance this year (Beyond the lights; debuted in Toronto to good reviews, will be released in November) that seems to be the polar opposite of Belle … AND this film is written and directed by a woman of color, as well, African-American Gina Prince-Bythewood. Long story short, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is quietly having a uniquely fantastic breakthrough year and in my opinion, she deserves some serious praise (and buzz) for it. If you care to read it, I can write a piece about her, I think it is high time now to give her a profile boost.
Ryan, the reason I put “African American based” was because Brad Pitt was an Executive Producer on 12 Years. There were white guys who took home the Best Picture Oscar. But John Ridley, the screen play writer for 12 Years, and Nyong’o were certainly African American who took home their own Oscars from last year, and for the most part, rightfully deserved.
– “And mediocre works were let in the door.”
– What mediocre works were these?
I like The Butler better than American Hustle. That’s my personal opinion. I like movies that feel sincere and not calculated, but again that’s how they strike me, personally.
Fruitvale Station blows both those movies out of the water, for me. And, hot performances notwithstanding, I thought Dallas Buyers Club was a weak BP nominee as well.
But if this comes down to “the cast of American Hustle got nominated” and “the cast of The Butler didn’t” then that seems not so much a travesty of justice, to me. Hard to imagine a universe where the Academy wouldn’t fall for that Science Oven bullshit.
Speaking for myself, though, I’m not ready to confer any great respect for SAG as arbiter of impeccable taste.
Yes, the SAG was the only group to give The Butler any recognition. Among other recent movies that the SAG honored for ensemble when nobody else saw anything worthy?
Nine
Bobby
American Gangster
Hairspray
Bridesmaids
August: Osage County
it does seem as if sometimes the SAG reserves one of its Best Cast slots for… Most Cast.
“And mediocre works were let in the door.”
What mediocre works were these? I thought all nine eventual Best Picture nominees this year were better than The Butler.
yes, 2 fine films by black directors were cut last year
also cut last year:
4 brilliant films by white directors
+ 14 other fine films by white directors
+ 24 popular films by white directors
+ 34 respectable films by white directors
and 134 piece-of-shit films by white directors
yes, there were enough worthy movies last year to fill a dozen BP slots instead of 9. But I honestly don’t see how the disregard for After Midnight, Inside Llewyn Davis, or All is Lost is more forgivable, more understandable or any less “outrageous” than the disregard for Fruitvale Station or The Butler.
I’m not personally wild about August Osage County or Saving Mr Banks, but are those two movies chopped liver compared to The Butler? Is it now no big deal that they got dissed by the Academy?
What if August Osage County was the same screenplay but had an all-black cast? Would we then need to be a whole lot angrier about it being left out? (or would we just have a more convenient hot-button excuse to explain why it was?)
While we’re touching on the topic of failing to acknowledge movie milestones, never mind that 3 of the last 5 Best Director winners were not hideous white men. Ang Lee and Alfonso Cuarón don’t figure into this argument because they’re not black, I guess…?
If things had turned out differently, would we be writing about how wrong it was that a white guy (Spielberg) beat Ang Lee? Or if another white guy (Scorsese) had beat Cuarón?
Did Kathryn Bigelow get a bone thrown at her for her “token film”? Not the way I recall us framing that fantastic victory in 2010. Not at all.
three of the biggest awards of 2013 were African American based.
Another way to say that: black filmmakers won three of the biggest awards of 2013.
that sounds more clear and straightforward, yes? I mean, would we say “three of the biggest awards of 2012 were White American based”?
aside from my desire to express this thing in equal terms, I agree with you, Patrick.
As usual this type of post Sasha always comes up with fails to mention the fact her examples had more than obvious and notable setbacks: The Butler was awful, which was very much the consensus, black director or not, black actors or not, and only Oprah ever stood a chance. She also fails to mention the fact that Fruitvale was a very tiny movie, that like A LOT of tiny movies that are also released early, got forgotten by the Academy, once again, black director or not. And in my opinion Fruitvale wasn’t worthy of a single award. I’m not saying the Oscars aren’t way too white, but the examples of how they can’t be or wouldn’t have been on a given year are always underwhelming and all they do is justify that year’s whiteness.
And if you want to add credibility to articles like this, then have the balls to say “I would replace ________ with Lee Daniels”. You don’t do it because you know it would make no sense. You know Daniels didn’t deserve a thing, but then you wouldn’t have an article. Like your headline says “So what else is new?”
And Chris Rock’s film is called TOP Five, not Big Five.
I have two problems with this piece. First of all, saying that The Butler should have received more nominations is insane. The movie wasn’t all that great and I am curious as to who you would have wanted to eliminate from the Best Actor race considering Hanks was snubbed for Captain Phillips. Surely you don’t think Whittaker was better than Hanks?! Secondly, a movie that was predominately African American won the Best Picture last year with 12 Years. To top it off, it was an African American woman who won Best Supporting Actress for that same movie. The Academy may have it’s faults over the last 80+ years by snubbing African Americans in acting roles but I think they have been much more accurate over the past 5-10. Instead of looking at who got snubbed, how about we take a look at who wasn’t.. Viola Davis was nominated for what felt like a 30 second role in Doubt back in 2008. You had both her and Octavia Spencer nominated (and lets remember Spencer won!) for the Help. Backtracking a bit, Monique won for Precious along with Daniels being nominated for Best Director in the same year. Now if you wish to say that you felt like Fruitville should have been nominated for something, then I am on board. But in no way, shape or form would I say that the Academy was discriminating when you had three of the biggest awards of 2013 were African American based.
Kon’nichiha, Ryan!
“Token” only makes me think of South Park.
Sally, the messenger in question loved 12 Years a Slave and championed it for the win despite calling Wolf of Wall Street the best movie of the year. I wouldn’t say she needs to digest this movie again as I’m sure she’s seen it many times.
I’ve let this post stew in me for a while even after I already posted a few times and I won’t go into a long rant. All I will say is, Sasha, despite trying to advocate for African American filmmakers you tend to contradict yourself for the sake of keeping race an issue in the Oscars. Are they an issue? Yes. But even you have to admit they are far better now than they ever were yet once the battle of 2013 is done you look back and shit on it. You list those who were snubbed to fuel the lit torches yet don’t list the winners to show the real milestone, despite how long it took, of this past Oscar race. “Throw a bone” is one of the most insulting things you’ve said about something YOU were championing. I even slightly recall similar remarks made a year or two after Bigelow won director when writing an article about women in the Oscar race.
*sigh* great, just great. now we’re calling these milestones “token films”
just great. good morning, everybody
As for “bones” being thrown at 12 Years a slave, obviously the messenger didn’t like the movie, didn’t “get” the movie, or didn’t see the movie. It was the BEST MOVIE, and most PROVOCATIVE movie last year. I invite the messenger to take the DVD, look at it again. It’s well worth it.
So far this year, from what few pictures I’ve seen, I would say Get On Up and Chadwick Bosewick are going to be the only “token” black movies/actor to get a nomination. Maybe Viola Davis as his mom.
There just hasn’t been a lot of product produced. If not for Get on up & Denzel Washington, what other “dramatic” movies have black-themes or actors? As for Latinos, I am waiting for their breakout movie. Maybe Viva Zapata needs to be remade? Maybe Robert Rodriguez should get out of the action-movie director’s seat and try some drama?
I’m also quite upset that Get on Up didn’t get the boxo it IMO deserved. It needed a wider audience, and I hope critics and academies will remember it come next year.
I admit – 12 years should have come out with the most amount of wins…..but nothing would have surpassed Gravity’s technical wins. By saying, though, that 12 Years A Slave was thrown a couple bones is a little insulting, considering it won 3 very hotly contested categories, picture, screenplany and supporting actress…..now if it had won a sound award and costume design and that’s it, and no offence to those those guilds – that would have been throwing a bone or two at the picture.
“So you’ll have to forgive me my outrage this year when a couple of bones were thrown last year at 12 Years a Slave…”
ok, but only if you forgive my disappointment that this post does not even bother to mention the names Steve McQueen, John Ridley and Lupita Nyong’o. So much for doing anything else to “help launch careers, open doors and present opportunities” for those three black Oscar winners.
Not that we even acknowledge that 12 Years won any Oscars at all. Apparently what happened on Oscar Night, while all the white people were winning Oscars, all the black people whose names were called were only having “bones thrown” at them. Nice image.
The only filmmaker involved with 12 Years a Slave who gets name-dropped here is Brad Pitt?
That pushy undeserving Bradley Cooper has cock-blocked the Oscar-greased career path of David Oyelowo? That’s why Oyelowo is only in SEVEN different movies this year, including Interstellar, A Most Violent Year and Selma.
I’ve been biting my tongue off all night, trying to step back, take a breath, and digest what this post is saying.
I would love to see as diverse a slate of films in the BP lineup as possible and the same with BD (or any other category, obviously). But last year was about quality, pure and simple. Coogler’s and Daniels’ achievements were not on a par with the ones who eventually got chosen for BD. Well, maybe Payne (I found Nebraska excruciatingly condescending), but other than that? It was a strong field, even the Coens got left out for one of their best movies ever! I don’t see how Coogler and Daniel missing out has anything to do with the ‘African-American experience’ factor (why was Daniels chosen for ‘Precious’ a few years back, then?). I know you insist on that angle, and to a certain degree I’m with you (that is, I support any broadening of perspective in the realms of popular culture, whether we talk about gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age etc.), I just don’t think we should compromise the standards of a purely qualitative estimation when deciding which films are in or out. The Oscars should be about honoring what’s considered the best of the year, not the most political correct choice. And in this case – based on strictly qualitative terms – there simply wasn’t room for Coogler and Daniels.
Funny how last year you wrote that The Butler wasn’t good enough…that is, until it wasn’t nominated and then it was an issue of race. Maybe it just wasn’t good enough? Don’t make it an issue now
Selma is such a wild card in this race, it’s insane. If it works, it’ll change the whole game at the last second, and I’m all for that. I have no real horse in the race this year–I’d like to see Birdman win, or maybe Inherent Vice…but really, I don’t NEED any film to win like I needed 12 Years a Slave to win last year.
Now, last year–The Butler wasn’t happening for Best Actor, unfortunately (the category was just way too crowded), and Supporting Actor and Actress…yeah, I would have been happy had they been nominated, but I wasn’t really invested. Fruitvale, however…I wouldn’t have necessarily nominated the script. Over Blue Jasmine, maybe, but there were a LOT of other scripts in the wings that I would’ve taken instead. But Actor? Absolutely over McConaughey, and probably over Bale (my lineup would’ve been Ejiofor, DiCaprio, Phoenix, Dern, and Jordan). And certainly Octavia Spencer deserved a nomination far more than Jennifer Lawrence (I’ll be forever thankful she didn’t win the Oscar). So how the awards groups dropped the ball there I do not know.
I also think Keith Stanfield should’ve been in the Supporting Actor lineup for his work in Short Term 12 (not nominating Brie Larson was a disgusting mistake). But that’s last year. We’re concerned about this year.
I really have no idea what we’re gonna get. Oyelowo for Best Actor? Carmen Ejogo Supporting? Maybe Chadwick Boseman wins the Globe (he would deserve it; this looks to be a pretty weak year for the Musical/Comedy lineup)? Maybe Gugu Mbatha-Raw makes a late surge? I really don’t know. Maybe it’s just late and I’m tired, but I think there’s been a degree of uncertainty about this awards season that I haven’t seen in quite some time. So I wouldn’t give up hope just yet.
I believe in Selma to be the big game changer of the race because the industry probably knows this film has been in the works for so long and 2014 seems to be a great year for women directors with Jolie, DuVernay, Cholodenko, Reinhardt, Robespierre, Coppola and Asante. I just believe in DuVernay and especially Oyelowo who if great will be unstoppable. All I hope is some campaigner doesn’t try to go and say we have awarded a black film isn’t that enough which I’m sure some monster will pull this season.
I agree that this year is on-point to being the whitest Oscars in a while. Everything essentially hangs on Selma which, with its late release date, is a scary proposition. This is particularly sad because there were a number of performances by actors of color that were great this year– Gugu Mbatha-Raw from Belle, Chadwick Boseman from Get on Up, Pei-pei Cheng from Lilting, etc.
However, I’m not quite sure I agree with some of the implications of this article that last year wasn’t fair to films by people of color. I personally felt that The Butler was a hot mess. I could have gotten behind nominations for Oprah or Oyelowo, but the film as a whole, its clunky screenplay, or Daniels’ hit-or-miss direction? No thanks. I wasn’t a huge fan of Fruitvale either– it was much, much better than The Butler, but it did feel drawn out to me, as though the first 70 minutes were penned just so they could show the last 20. And, Brad Pitt film or not, last year ended up having 3 nominated actors of color. Not shabby.
There is a lot of work to be done to make the Oscars more representative, but as the poster above suggests- not every film can be nominated. If The Butler’s screenplay had gotten nominated, it could easily have displaced something amazing like Before Midnight.
Smee, I agree that there are more underrepresented races in the Oscars. Latinos, Asian, Native American but it’s either African American or just women when reading articles on the web.
Other than that your comment about how black DuVernay is was pretty asinine.
Also, having said that, I wonder why people always focus on African-Americans when talking about underrepresentation of non-white American actors? African-Americans are about 13.6% of the U.S. There are more Latinos in the U.S. than African-Americans, and also a sizeable amount of Asians and other non-white groups.
It’s doubtful that she’ll get nominated this year, and she’s not very black, but Shailene Woodley does have an intriguing part Creole/mixed-race family history that is uniquely American/Louisianian.
http://ethnicelebs.com/shailene-woodley
Also, Hilary Swank is 1/4 Mexican (through her maternal grandmother).
Trivia all, but still intriguing.
That all said I have faith in DuVernay and truly believe Selma will be one of the years best movies. I have a distinct feeling we will get a Paul Greengrass vibe out of this.
I’m actually curious about this, who would you have taken out of the best director lineup to put Daniels in? McQueen? Scorsese? Cuaron? Payne? I’m sure you would’ve liked to see O. Russell out but then there’s Greengrass, Jonze and the Coen brothers who were left out. Was Daniels truly one of the top 5 best directors of last year? Even Coogler, who I think is a far superior director, for that matter. Coogler maybe, maybe shkuld have gotten in for screenplay. And DuVernay made a great feature in Middle of Nowhere. But color, yes color, aside, Zeitlin made the better movie overall. They both overcame huge obstacles in making their movies and Zeitlin’s is far more impressive, again taking nothing away from Middle of Nowhere. Zeitlin was as much an underdog as DuVernay that year and let’s call it like we see it, Zeitlin probably took Bigelow’s spot. As a debut feature, Zeitlin made absolute magic, and I don’t use the word “absolute” lightly. It may be in my top 10 ever.
As far as championing films about African Americans by African Americans, why do they only need to figure into the race? The race is what we, or Oscar bloggers, make of it. If you want to talk about a movie endlessly them that means it’s somehow entering the race. I haven’t seen you mention Top Five before now, maybe in passing during the premier, and I certainly don’t remember you talking about John Ridley’s debut feature on Hendrix. I also don’t remember much chatter on Jeffrey Fletcher’s debut Violet and Daisy.